The victim was found lying on Sidley Road about 4:30 a.m. July 25, 2010. He died three weeks later from head injuries.

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Co-defendant 23-year-old Matthew Boone of Rome Township, who drove the truck that night, is serving 15 years to life after pleading guilty to complicity to murder and tampering with evidence.

Geauga County Prosecutor James Flaiz said Plottke has never shown remorse for the crime.

“He knew that he killed a kid and left a family not knowing what happened to their son for three years,” Flaiz said. “I can’t think of anything more appalling than a 17-year-old kid who had just been at a graduation party walking down the road to go home and have a truck drive up on him and hit him. And that wasn’t enough for these guys. They then had to turn the truck around. The defendant had to jump out of the truck, grab a pipe — because they had been stealing scrap — and bash the skull of a 17-year-old kid — who they didn’t know — who they didn’t have a gripe with.”

Plottke pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to aggravated murder. He then requested to take back the plea, claiming he is innocent and only admitted to the crime because he was scared.

On Friday, he withdrew his motion to take back the plea and was immediately sentenced.

The victim’s father, Bill Swan, called his son’s death senseless.

“Daniel had several hundred dollars on him that night,” he said. “There was no attempt to take it. This was not an attempt to rough someone up. The attempt from the beginning was to kill our son.”

Chris Swan, Daniel’s mother, spoke to Plottke through her tears.

“You’ve given us a life sentence of loss,” she said.

The victim’s best friend, Nick Romero, said life will never be the same for Daniel’s loved ones.

“I watched as Daniel’s parents lost an alarming amount of weight — too worried to eat,” Romero said. “Daniel was the kindest, funniest man you could ever meet. He was generous and giving to a Christ-like level. I once saw him give away his last $15 to a man who pretended to be homeless.”

Romero added that months of his own life are gone because he was too drunk to face reality. In addition, he became so angry that he lost friends and his fiancee.

The victim was described as a pacifist who befriended bullied teens and loved art, music and cinema.

“I prayed the police found you before I did,” Romero said. “It was a vile act of random violence. He was attacked for the sheer thrill of hurting another man.”

Defense attorney Michael H. Peterson said Plottke had difficulty expressing himself in court, but is sorry for what he did.

“The defense does have a lot of sympathy for the victim,” Peterson said. “It was a terrible, terrible incident and should never have happened.”

The judge agreed to the joint recommended sentence by the defense attorney and prosecutor.

Plottke has been in the Lorain Correctional Institution since December 2012 serving a four-year sentence for drug and burglary offenses.

The new sentence will be served at the same time as the prior unrelated case.

Burt called the murder one of the worst crimes he’s ever had before him.